The diversity of floral temperature patterns, and their use by pollinators

Bees and other pollinators experience the world in a different way to humans. They use different strategies in order to identify their surroundings, including their preferred flower species. Among these strategies, floral temperature.  These differential “floral warming” happens due to floral thermogenesis or due to captured solar radiation. Harrap et al. report in their study the capacity of floral temperature patterns to function as a floral cue for bees, by taking thermographs of 118 plant species under good weather conditions. Of the tested plant species, 55% showed within-flower differences of more of 2°C, however some species had little to no detectable differences.  In addition, Harrap et al. showed that bumblebees can learn, based solely on temperature patters, to distinguish rewarding from non-rewarding artificial flowers. These findings might be significant given the present climate change and temperature rising concerns.  (Summary by Isabel Mendoza) eLIFE 10.7554/eLife.31262